Alden Abbott
Alden Abbott is Senior Research Fellow in charge of antitrust and competition policy for the Mercatus Institute at George Mason University. Prior to joining Mercatus, he served as General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission (2018-2011). He has published many articles and taught courses on antitrust, regulation, and intellectual property. He holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in Economics from Georgetown University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Antitrust and Competition
The Consumer Welfare Standard and Antitrust Enforcement: a Response
Alden Abbott, former general counsel of the FTC, argues that, contrary to claims made in a recent ProMarket article, American competition is vibrant...
Antitrust and Competition
Antitrust Enforcement Is Not Enough to Address Anticompetitive Conduct in Pharmaceutical Markets. Market-Oriented Legal Reform is Needed.
Federal antitrust enforcement has been robust and effective in promoting prescription drug market competition and thereby enhancing consumer welfare. Antitrust enforcement in...
Latest news
Antitrust and Competition
Should The Competitive Process Test Replace The Consumer Welfare Standard?
Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, recently gave a speech condemning the use of the consumer...
News
Delaware: The State Where Companies Can Vote
Adapted from What’s the Matter with Delaware: How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal—and How It Costs Us...
Antitrust and Competition
The NCAA Goes After College Athletes’ NIL Money—Here are the Antitrust Implications for Workers and Consumers
Having lost in the Supreme Court on student-athlete academic benefits, the NCAA has signaled a continuing attempt to suppress competition in the...
Corporate Governance
Have Business Roundtable Companies Lived Up to Their Stakeholder Commitments? Â
In 2019, more than 100 CEOs of US public companies signed a Business Roundtable statement in which they pledged to deliver value...
Inequality
Do Protests Matter At All for Shifting Government Policy Around Economic Redistribution?
New research on the effectiveness of protests on government distributions provides insights into the political incentives of a country’s leadership and the...
Antitrust and Competition
Mergers and Smoking Guns
A recently uncovered memo from George Stigler and Richard Posner reveals how they thought about antitrust and merger policy in advising the...
Corporate Governance
Will “Portfolio Primacy” Throw a Monkey Wrench in Elon Musk’s Plans to Acquire Twitter?
The SEC's definition of fiduciary duty allows institutional shareholders to vote against Elon Musk's Twitter takeover bid thanks to portfolio primacy.
